Dear HCN,
Andy Stahl writes that
William Dwyer was nominated for the federal bench “by liberal
Democrat Dan Evans and conservative Republican Slade Gorton” (HCN,
3/4/02: ‘His courtroom was a classroom’). Actually, Evans is also a
Republican. Stahl is probably confused because, in 1985, a liberal
Republican like Evans would be more liberal than most Democrats
today. Or perhaps Stahl has never heard the odd expression,
“liberal Republican”?
Stahl also errs in saying
that Dwyer’s appointment was “surely one of the few matters on
which they agreed.” As Washington state’s Republican governor and
attorney general in the ’60s and ’70s, the two agreed on many
environmental issues, including support of the state’s
bottle-deposit initiative in 1970.
Whatever his
problems with endangered liberal species, Stahl’s assessment of
Dwyer is right on target. William Dwyer was one of the most
inspiring and brilliant judges in our state’s
history.
Bob
Keller
Bellingham, Washington
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Evans a liberal Republican.
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